News
Canada

Fearing he was trading company secrets, a Manitoba man's employer secretly reviewed the contents of his work computer only to find he was loading it with child pornography, including nude pictures of his own pre-teen daughters, a court heard Wednesday.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, previously pleaded guilty to possession and production of child pornography, sexual interference, voyeurism, criminal harassment and four counts of failing to comply with court orders.

Police arrested the man in October 2012 after his employer reported finding child pornography on his work computer and videos of the man engaged in sex acts with a female co-worker both at home and at work.

Many of the pictures the man took were of children's feet and were taken without their knowledge. One photo pictured the man's penis beside a sleeping girl's feet.

Questioned by police, the woman said she had no idea the man was recording their encounters.

Crown attorney Debbie Buors said the woman only agreed to proceed with charges against the man after he repeatedly ignored police orders to stay away from her and she began fearing for her safety.

"He might not have had to face the voyeurism charge, but for his own behaviour," Buors said.

A forensic analysis of the man's work and home computers uncovered thousands of pictures and videos of naked children and children engaged in sex acts as well as video chats with underage girls.

Police also uncovered recordings of the man's two pre-teen daughters and two friends naked in the bathroom and in the girls' bedroom.

Court heard another young girl reported the man molested her in 2005 after a party at her parents' home. Police found a picture of the same girl superimposed over the nude body of another girl and made to appear as if she was engaged in a sex act with the man.

Many of the pictures the man took were of children's feet and were taken without their knowledge. One photo pictured the man's penis beside a sleeping girl's feet.

The man "has a foot fetish," Buors said. "Normally one wouldn't consider that to be child pornography ... but it could be in the context of (the accused)."

Seated in the prisoner's box, the accused stole repeated glances at the samples of the pictures and videos before darting his eyes to the floor.

A police officer from the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit showed Judge Janice leMaistre a lengthy sampling of the pictures and videos on a large television screen not visible to the court gallery. Lemaistre's expression became more grim as the review wore on and after one long video excerpt she said bluntly "I get the point."

Seated in the prisoner's box, the accused stole repeated glances at the television screen before darting his eyes to the floor.

The Crown is expected to recommend the man be sentenced to a lengthy penitentiary term. The sentencing hearing will resume with further submissions from the Crown on Sept. 4.